Not Slothful in Business: Macleod, Kempe and the Glass of Govan Old Parish Church

By

Philip N. H. Collins and Adrian Barlow

This dramatic presentation of the Govan correspondence was devised
by Philip N. H. Collins and written by Adrian Barlow. It was
performed ( with illustrative slides ) at the launch event on
Saturday 7th July 1990 within the Steven Chapel. Adrian Barlow took
the part of the Narrator, Philip Collins the part of Charles Eamer
Kempe, and Gilbert Bell used his Scots tongue to give flavour to
the Govan 'voices'. All three speakers are members of the Kempe
Society. Our connection with the Kempe Society was established by
Mr. William Murray, formerly Organist at Govan Old. The correspondence
between Kempe and his studio and Dr. John Macleod and Govan Parish
has been published by the Kempe Society as 'The Govan Correspondence'.
The original letters and accounts are deposited by Govan Old at
the Strathclyde Regional Archive, located in the Mitchell Library,
Glasgow.

Narrator 'Not Slothful in Business', the title of our talk, is part of
the inscription to be found on the East window of this Church. This window
was installed as a memorial to Dr. John Macleod; and the full text of the
inscription, approved by the Kirk Session in March 1899, reads as follows:

Session ClerkJohn Macleod DD. born at the Manse, Morvern, 22nd June
1840, died at the Manse, Govan, 4th August 1898. "Not slothful in business;
fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. This window was erected in affectionate
memory by the Congregation and Friends."

Narrator The Macleod Memorial Window, together with eleven other windows
in Govan Old Church, comes from the studios of Charles Eamer Kempe, who
was one of the leading figures of the Victorian revival of stained glass
in Great Britain. In their own ways, both John Macleod and Kempe were eminent
Victorians, remarkable alike for the energy and for the great influence
the exercised. Macleod, as a preacher and paster, was a formidable figure
in Scotland; and this church in which we meet testifies to his vision in
creating a setting where the catholic traditions of liturgical worship and
doctrine could be married to the traditions of the Presbyterian church.
Kempe, who had once hoped to enter the Anglican priesthood, had devoted his
life to creating a style of ecclesiastical art that would enrich the catholic
worship of the Anglican church.

It was no doubt for this reason that Macleod first approached Kempe to design
windows for Govan Old Church, but at first Kempe was reluctant: he knew little
of the Presbyterian Church, and probably had little sympathy with its
Calvinist heritage; at any rate, he must have doubted whether his
reputation would be enhanced by such a commission. It was, after all, only
a generation earlier that Sir Gilbert Scott had been pilloried for designing
a non-conformist chapel. But Macleod was as persuasive a correspondent as
he was a preacher, and in August 1897 Kempe accepted Macleod's offer.

KempeMy dear Sir, I feel I cannot any longer resist your pleadings:
and in the interest of our common Christianity; expressed, as I believe you
have desired it to be, in the traditional forms of Christian art; I will
endeavour to serve you at Govan.

Narrator Kempe's reference to the "common Christianity" is important.
Professor James Cooper has painted a striking picture of Macleod's attitude
towards Christianity and art:

CooperHe never undervalued preaching. He never disparaged doctrine.
He was totally removed from the position of the mere aesthete. If he
sought beauty, it was never for it own sake - but only and always as a means
to set more fully the truth which God has revealed.

Narrator Those comments could be applied equally well to Kempe, and it
is probably that one of the reasons why Kempe devoted such particular time
and care to the Govan commissions was because he sensed that he and Macleod
shared a clear vision of art in the service of Christianity. Sadly, Macleod
was to die before the first commissions could even be begun, but he remained
the inspiration behind the scheme, as Kempe readily acknowledged: the
twelve windows that now stand in Govan are a tribute to that inspiration.
For this reason, we hope to show that the comment "Not slothful in business"
applies as much to Kempe as it does to Macleod.

Uniquely, an archive of letters, accounts and other papers relating to the
whole history of the Govan windows has survived. From these documents it
is possible to put together an intriguing picture of Kempe's business, and
of his personality and working methods. First, though, it is important to
sketch in some of the background to Kempe's career and reputation.

By 1898, when Kempe first started work on Govan, he had been in business for
over thirty years and had established a reputation - and a fortune - which
had enabled him to buy and restore an historic house in Sussex, Old Place
Lindfield. Here he was able to entertain clients and friends, who included
leading churchmen and lay patrons as well as artists and architects. Among
these was George Frederick Bodley, to whom Kempe had first gone to learn the
rudiments of church decoration and ecclesiastical architecture. From Bodley
he learned much about 15th century English Gothic architectural style; with
his encouragement, he joined the firm of Clayton and Bell ( from whose
studios came the east window behind us ) to study the principles of refined
stained glass design and manufacture. Kempe's first window, designed for
Gloucester Cathedral in 1865, already shows two characteristics of his style:
the dominant use of large figures, set ( in the 15th century style ) in
ornate canopy niches, with smaller scenes underneath, and the careful use
of iconography and mediaeval costume or vestments. Kempe's style is
essentially historical and traditionalist, but what begins to mark out
his firm's work from the early 1870's onwards ( once he had set up on
his own ) is a confident handling of rich ( often deep ) colour and a
delight in details which make even the smallest windows fascinating to
study. Angels always have wings of peacocks' feathers, and often carry
musical instruments of great beauty or intricacy; saints are identified
by their traditional symbols and by the initial letter of their name
topped by a crown. Above all, perhaps, as Kempe's business grew, he
gathered around him artists and craftsmen who created a house-style notable
for the balance between fine draughtsmanship and refined colour and
decoration. His practice, at 28 Nottingham Place, London, grew so rapidly
that at its height he was employing nearly 60 men, and producing well over
fifty windows a year.

In the year that Dr. Macleod first approached him, Kempe's studios produced
sixty two windows, a formidable total of 8747 sq. feet of glass. Some of
these were monumental commissions from cathedrals, others were tiny
windows in village churches. Today, there is not a county in England and
Wales ( nor a continent anywhere on the globe except Antarctica ) without
some Kempe glass.

Neither must we forget that Kempe was also skilled in church decoration
and furnishing: as early as 1868 he was working with Bodley to create one
of the great masterpieces of English Tractarian art, St. John the Baptist,
Tue Brook, Liverpool, where the richness of Kempe's colour magnificently
offsets the simplicity of Bodley's design. His work also encompassed lecterns,
pulpits, vestments and altar frontals, some of which ( such as the frontal
from St. Agnes, Liverpool ) are now finding their way into national
art collections.

It is against this background that Kempe's work at Govan needs to be
understood. Stewart Thomson, in his I, records
that:

ThomsonWhen the building was completed in 1888 its windows were at first
filled with plain glass. Dr. Macleod determined to make them a Gospel picture
book following a definite scheme which would teach its silent lessons to
old and young alike. In this project, he was fortunate in securing the
cooperation of a notable master of his art, Charles E. Kempe of London.
Kempe had hitherto worked only for Episcopal Churches; but by appealing to
the hope of Catholic reunion, Dr. Macleod overcame his scruples[1].

Narrator Certainly, having accepted the commission, Kempe lost no time
in discussing the themes and subjects of the windows with Macleod. After
setting out ideas for the Transept windows on the North side ( actually the
quasi-North side for, unusually, this Church is built on a North-South, not
East-West, axis ) he wrote,

KempeYou were good enough also to name the ( quasi ) West window with
a view to its glazing with coloured glass. I am inclined to advise that these
three tall lancets should be dedicated to the belief in the Doctrine of the
Holy Angels: and I could show a figure of Our Lord in the upper portion of
the central opening with SS. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael forming a tier
below him, and the rest of these lights might be given up to other figures
of Angels in attendance upon them. The refrain "The Lord is the King of the
Archangels, O come let us adore Him" might form the text of the whole
composition. I think in this case I should be able to give you an estimate
of Four Hundred and Fifty pounds ( £450 ) for the three openings...

Narrator Macleod approved of Kempe's suggestions and quickly replied to
the letter:

MacleodIf you are satisfied that what you recommend for the quasi
West window is best...I am prepared now to entrust it to you, at the price
you name - and I am also ready to be guided by your opinions as to the
Transept windows as regards the style of treatment.

Narrator At this point, however, the whole scheme nearly foundered before
it had really begun. Kempe spent most of August 1989 on holiday in the country,
and returned to London to receive news that Macleod had unexpectedly died.

Kempe To Mr. N. A. Macleod: Dear Sir, On my return to London I have
heard with great regret that your Father's illness...had a fatal termination.
I need hardly say that having seen him in health and vigour so recently,
it was a serious shock to find how early he had been removed from us. Slow as
I was to act in his behalf I was called on to work for no ordinary man: and
now I regret that so much time has slipped away without my fulfilling any
of his wishes. Please accept my hearty condolences on this event which
has robbed you of such a parent - and many others of a wise and steadfast
friend. Your very truly, C. E. Kempe

Narrator Fortunately, Macleod's son was able to reassure Kempe that he
should continue to work on the commissions he had been expecting any day
to receive from Macleod. Kempe wrote with relief:

KempeI am glad to learn from your correspondence that notwithstanding
the lamented death of Dr. Macleod, there is a prospect that the glass, which
he had practically decided to place in his Church, may be executed.

Narrator By return, Macleod's son replied to Kempe's letter:

Norman MacleodIn designs for the windows, whether Transept or otherwise
you will of course abide by my Father's ideas and your suggestions as
explained to him. I am obtaining authority in writing from the Kirk
Session of the Govan Parish Church to complete my Father's window scheme...
I have requested this written authority so as to avoid any trouble with the
successor in charge of the church and parish...

Narrator It is worth noting that all these arrangements were being
completed within three weeks of Macleod's death. His son's anxiety to
get authority from the Kirk Session so as to prevent anyone from later
abandoning the scheme, suggests how important the windows must have been to
Dr. Macleod. The window scheme, itself the completion of the whole Govan
church building project, was already becoming a memorial to Dr. Macleod.
For this reason, it is particularly interesting that Macleod's son, in the
same letter, wrote:

Norman MacleodI hope to be able to get you the order of the Chancel
quasi East window so you may be working out a design and estimate for
this also.

Narrator It was this glass which was to become the Macleod Memorial Window.
It is appropriate to record here that the Govan Old Church owes a great deal
to Macleod's son. In the two months following his father's death, he
immediately established a rapport with Kempe to make certain that the windows
project went ahead. What is more, he personally raised promises of money
to underwrite it; established a general fund for the windows to be
administered by his mother, and arranged for trustees to look after future
negotiations: he himself, now that his father was dead, was going to
emigate to India. Before he left, he wrote eloquently about the relationship
that had already evolved between Kempe, Govan and Macleod:

Norman MacleodI have every confidence in your doing your very best for
the Church as regards the orders which may be placed in your hands. My Father
desired nothing but the best workmanship and you will have a full knowledge
through correspondence and otherwise as to his ideas and tastes in regard
to Church windows.

Narrator Kempe for his part was equally ready to pay tribute to Macleod's
inspiration. Writing in November 1898 to John Young, whoe took over the
Govan end of the negotiations from Macleod's son, he said:

KempeI am obliged for your letter of enquiry respecting the large 'East'
window at Govan...I hope I may have the privilege of executing the stained glass
for it; as Dr. Macleod intended me to do it, and my letter of July 29th brought
the matter as far as it was then possible; and it has only been interrupted
by his lamented death.

I submitted then the suggestion that the Figure of our Lord should occupy the
centre of the great upper circle, and be surrounded with attributes of glory,
and holy prsonages; whilst the lower three lights might show a selection of
scenes beaing upon His Incarnation and Passion.

I had no opportunity of receiving Dr. Macleod's criticism of these detailed
suggestions; but I know he accepted them in the main part as part of our
scheme for the Church, which we had discussed - and had he lived I should
have had his help in perfecting this scheme. As regards the cost of this
'East' window, I adhere to the sum Six Hundred Pounds (£600) named
in that letter for the glass; and you are right in supposing that all
ironwork, carriage, fixing, wire-guards ( if necessary ) etc., would be
extras...

Narrator Within the month, Kempe had received Young's commission to
begin work on the Macleod Memorial East window and promised to start on the
drawings without delay, only adding:

KempeI hope in these dark days I may be allowed some two or three
weeks for the development of so large a work.

Narrator Nearly one hundred years later we take electric light so much
for granted that it is good to be reminded how the short days and long
evenings of winter had a real effect on the rate at which work such as
Kempe's could be produced. His premises in London were, if not cramped,
certainly not extensive; and the work of sketching, drawing cartoons,
painting the glass and assembling the windows all required good light if
the job was to be done properly. Kempe himself ( as the Govan correspondence
illustrates ) dealt with clients, developed ideas for windows and furnishings,
and superintended all aspects of the business; he did not ( certainly after
the early years ) actually draw the designs or paint the glass himself. The
inspiration and style were his; the actual artistry and craftsmanship came
from his team of draughtsmen, painters and glaziers. Their names deserve to
be better known, for just as behind any window labelled 'William Morris'
lies the skill of a Philip Webb or a Burne-Jones, so behind Kempe's glass
lies the skill of artists such as Alfred Tombleson, Master Glass Painter and
craftsman, Edgar Carter and John Lisle, designer cartoonists. ( The same is
true, of course, today of any successful design practice: the name of a
Terence Conran or of a James Stirling may be what sells the product or
the building, but the detailed development of the work is done by usually
anonymous assistants. )

In the event, the two or three weeks Kempe had asked for to develop the
drawings for the Memorial East window turned into three months, but by
11th March 1899 they were ready to be sent from London to Glasgow.

KempeDear Sir, I am now able to forward you the drawing for the (quasi-)
East window at the Parish Church of Govan: prepared upon the lines already
suggested...I hope it will obtain the necessary sanction and approval.

Narrator This necessary sanction and approval was obtained - but only just.
Instead of the usual sketches with notes, Kempe had sent a coloured scale
drawing of the window. This would probably have been drawn and coloured
by John Lisle, who was by this time his chief draughtsman, and was to a scale
of 3/4in to the foot. ( In other words, a drawing of a light sixteen feet
high would have been twelve inches tall. ) The Fund Raising Committee, to
whom the drawing was sent, had their reservations:

John YoungIn regard to the wheel window, it was thought that the central
figure designed by Mr. Kempe as 'Our Lord in Glory' suggested rather the
first person in the Trinity than the second, the figure in the design being
venerable and not such as to convey the idea of our Lord risen in triumph.

It appeared to the committee that the figure might with advantage be more
slender. It was also thought that the design coming second in order in the
right hand lancet light referred to by Mr. Kempe as 'Our Lord's Descent into
Hell' and being that of our Lord preaching to the spirits in prison did not
sufficiently bring out the nature of the subject and might possibly be
improved...

Narrator This was potentially very embarrassing to the Kirk Session, which
did not relish having to send back Kempe's designs. In the end, they agreed
to forward the Committee's comments to Kempe, but not to endorse them.
They argued that Kempe had, after all, based the designs on preliminary
discussions with the great Dr. Macleod himself; what was more, the scale
drawing as relatively so small that it was risky to draw firm conclusions.
Above all, however, they felt...

John Young...they were safer to leave themselves without reserve in
Mr. Kempe's hand, not only having regard to his acknowledged position as an
artist and being at the very top of his profession, but also having regard
to his expressed desire, both on account of his affection and regard for
Dr. Macleod, to do his very best and also because this is the first work he
has ever done for any Presbyterian Church in Scotland[2].

Narrator The Kirk Session was right to be diplomatic, for Kempe could be
severe with those who criticised his proposed schemes. The East Window
went ahead according to plan, but later windows were the subject of some
tricky negotiations. When the new minister, Mr. Kirkpatrick, put forward his
own Resurrection scheme for the nave windows, Kempe politely but firmly
rejected all his ideas and substituted his own:

KempeI feel that I am taking somewhat of a liberty in so rudely handling
your own scheme and suggesting my own in its place; but I am sure you will
understand that such suggestions as these are necessary for the dramatic
illustration of so great a subject revealed to us in Scripture.

Narrator He was a good deal less polite when the donor of a clerestory
window, Lady Pearce, objected to his proposals:

KempeThere is no Angle of Fra. Angelico's that I know of which
represents monumentally the single figure of "the Angel of the Resurrection";
nor is such a figure known of in Christian art...If you still feel it
desirable to disturb our scheme and show an ordinary Angel in a white alb...
and call it 'the Angel of the Resurrection' I am willing to do it; but its
value as a witness to the Doctrine is not so great...

Narrator In this way the Govan correspondence helps to provide an important
insight into Kempe and how his studios worked. Between 1899 and 1904 he
installed twelve windows in Govan Old Church, over 1000 square feet of
glass. From the letters, we also get some interesting light on aspects of
stained glass which usually receive little attention. The Kirk Session,
anxious to protect its new and precious windows, asked Kempe to quote for
installing wire guards. Kempe, quite rightly, believed that wire guards
distracted from the impact of the window, and tried to put the Kirk Session's
mind at rest over this:

KempeHaving seen the Church, and its position, I scarcely think that
any wire is necessary over the large 'West' window; and the 'North' windows
also seem to me to be in such a position as regards the Churchyard, and the
tall houses beyond, that it is scarcely possible for them to be broken by
casual stone-throwing. I think that they might be very safely left without
external protection which so greatly hurts their effect.

Narrator The Kirk Session, perhaps knowing the neighbourhood better
than Kempe, preferred to take no chances. When the Macleod Memorial Window
was being prepared they resolved that it should be protected on the outside
by plate glass. Kempe himself did not handle this side of affairs; instead
he sub-contracted it - in an interesting arrangement - to the manager of
his own glassworks, A. E. Tombleson. Alfred Tombleson had devoted his
whole life to working for Kempe, and his contribution to the firm's
reputation was immense - so much so that he alone of Kempe's assistants
was sometimes allowed to sign the windows made under his supervision, though
none of the Govan windows carries his monogram. It may have been as a further
sign of his appreciation that Kempe enabled Tombleson to set up on his own
account in the window protection business.

KempeI will hand to Mr. Tombleson your instructions respecting clear
glass being used as a protection to the outside of the windows; and he
will doubtless in due course report to you on the construction and expense
of the same...I feel sure Mr. Tombleson will do the best he can for you,
if it is insisted upon; but I fear you will find it both difficult and
expensive.

Narrator Difficult and expensive it certainly was. Over the next two years
some of the windows were duly protected with plate glass installed under
Tombleson's direction, but the Committee could not at first afford
Tombleson's estimate for the whole of the East window, and Tombleson himself
pointed out that it would probably be cheaper to repair individual breakages
as they occurred than to cover the whole window with plate glass. Perhaps
inevitably, it wasn't long before a stone was indeed lobbed through one of
the windows - the Macleod Memorial Window itself - and Kempe had to shrug
off the embarrassment as best he could.

KempeI am sorry to hear of the little accident to the East Window. I
will see that it is repaired in due course. If there is a danger of further
fragments of the glass falling out, perhaps you will see that a piece of
brown paper might be, for the present, pasted over the hole. I will let
my glazier attend to it at the earliest date possible.

Narrator Further correspondence shows that the brown paper was still in
position twenty months later! Today none of the plate glass panels has
survived and the conventional wire guards are doing a good is less-sightly
job instead.

The Govan glass shows all the versatility and confidence of Kempe's glass
when the studios and their founder were in their hey-day. The correspondence
from which we have been drawing in this lecture provides valuable and
unexpected information to explain Kempe's intentions from the moment the
ideas for individual windows began to crystallise to the day the windows
themselves were fixed in the church. Thus, for example, the two-cusped
windows set high in the transept were described by Kempe in a letter
accompanying the initial sketches:

KempeYou will see that I show two angels holding shields, which have
reference to the figures of 'Faith' and 'Hope', which occur in the windows
below. I propose to put them on red or blue grounds, within a wreath of
roses and leaves, obtaining thereby a full effect of rich colours.

Narrator For Kempe, each window in Govan was part of the plan he had
first discussed with Dr. John Macleod; it is the harmony of doctrine and
art, of colour and line, of symbolism and natural form - whether seen in the
great East and West windows or here in the Transept glass - which marks the
real achievement of Kempe's studios at this time. When we understand this, it
is easy to agree with Professor Owen Chadwick's claim that "the art of
stained glass reached its zenith, not with the aesthetic innovations of
William Morris or William Burne-Jones, but in the Tractarian artist Charles
Eamer Kempe."

Kempe's association with Govan Old Church was one of the happiest and most
successful of his career: the rapport which had been established between
Kempe and Macleod at the outset had sustained both church and artist
throughout the period of negotiation, planning and execution. When the
final bill was paid ( the total cost being for those days the formidable
sum of £2395 ), the Minister, Mr. Kirkpatrick, spoke of the general
feeling at Govan that the money had been well spent. John Young too wrote
warmly to Kempe, and Kempe replied in similar terms:

Kempe 17th January 1905 My dear Sir, I hope I may be in time before
you leave England to express my sincere gratitude for your letter of
yesterday. It is seldom that such heartfelt words of admiration or of
gratitude reach me. They almost make me look back with shame on my original
backwardness to serve Dr. Macleod; and indeed in the course of the work
I have learned very much, which I should never have acquired had I not been
in contact with him, and with yourself...Let me against assure you of my
great appreciation of your kindness. Believe me, sincerely yours, Charles
Eamer Kempe.

Narrator Kempe himself was to live another couple of years after this -
he died in 1907 - but perhaps nothing in the remainder of his professional
career gave him more pleasure than the memory of what had been achieved
here in these twelve great windows of Govan.

Notes:

Dr. Stewart Thomson was trailing his coat here. Kempe had by this date
installed stained glass windows in a number of Church of Scotland
buildings.